A 20-year-old Gainesville man charged in the January 2025 crash that killed a well-known member of the local real estate community pleaded guilty July 14 to vehicular homicide and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
Clayton Deneal Wamsley, who was 18 at the time of the crash, also had his driver’s license permanently revoked, according to a Gainesville Police Department social media post.
According to the initial GPD report, Matt Umanos, who worked for the Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors for nearly 17 years, was walking his dog around 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2025, when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Wamsley on Northeast Seventh Street near Northeast 16th Avenue.
The Sun previously reported that Umanos’ neighbor, Candace Biggerstaff, had just arrived home with her wife, Marcelina Michel-Trapaga, when the crash occurred. Michel-Trapaga said she called 911 after hearing Biggerstaff scream for help.
Michel-Trapaga said Umanos was lying in a ditch with his shoes several feet away, while his dog’s leash was wrapped around a side mirror of the vehicle.
Nurses who happened to be passing by stopped to perform CPR after police officers pulled Umanos from the ditch, Michel-Trapaga said.
Wamsley was reportedly trapped inside his vehicle, and emergency crews had to remove the roof to free him.
Michel-Trapaga said Umanos, 42, had been walking the dog with his brother when the crash occurred. Biggerstaff stayed with his brother until their mother arrived at the scene.
A candlelight vigil honoring Umanos and his dog, Elmyra, who also died in the crash, was held the following day at Tom Petty Park.
— This story contains information previously reported in The Sun.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Driver sentenced to 10 years in crash that killed Matt Umanos
Reporting by Staff report, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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By Staff report, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
